


Jason's shoot

by geeyoulookawful



Series: Photos [3]
Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Other, Photographer Whizzer Brown, Whizzer Brown & Jason Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:54:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28898466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geeyoulookawful/pseuds/geeyoulookawful
Summary: Jason returns for his shoot, and is concerned and confused by how his father interacts with the photographer.
Series: Photos [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2106510
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	Jason's shoot

Thursday. Jason’s day had finally arrived and Marvin and his son were feeling two very different emotions.

Marvin, feeling excited because he got to see Whizzer again, was nervous and snappier than usual, correcting things as small as how Jason put his seatbelt on. It was infuriating for Jason, who was pissed cause he had to spend time with his father. He found it a little strange that his dad always hesitated just a little bit before saying Whizzer’s name. Almost like he was gonna say something else.

When they arrived at the studio Jason trudged behind his father, not wanting to be there at all. He couldn’t help but give a half-hearted wave when the photographer greeted him in a cheery voice. He watched the two men shake hands. Why was his father’s grip so tight? Shouldn't they be done shaking hands by now? Did they need to hold eye contact for so long? If being an adult had so many unspoken rules about just shaking hands, Jason didn’t want to grow up. What he didn’t know was that all his questions could be answered by the events that took place after Marvin’s shoot.

When he got his turn shaking Whizzer’s hand, Jason stared at his shoes and let go quickly. 

“Jason, it’s good to finally meet you without your lame parents doing all the talking. Are you ready to take some pictures?”

Instead of answering, Jason asked, “How come you’re so tall?” He was pushed a little on the shoulder and he turned to face his father. “What?” he asked, voice less animated, now. 

“Don’t ask rude questions.” Marvin said flatly.

“Marvin, it’s fine,” Whizzer piped in, saving Jason from repremansion, which he was grateful for. “I don’t know why I’m so tall, actually, kiddo. I never looked into it.” He said matter-of-factly. “How about those pictures now eh?”

Jason nodded and followed behind Whizzer to the set. His face lit up, but only for a moment before he furrowed his brow in confusion. “How’d you know red is my favorite color?”

Whizzer shrugged, giving him a smile. He had honestly guessed. Nothing in particular gave it away, he just did what his gut told him to do. And apparently it had worked.

“I’m gonna start with you standing first, just so I don’t have to keep moving things, okay? Just, stand in the middle and strike a pose.

Jason did as told and stood in front of the camera, arms hanging at his sides, a bored expression on his face. He saw his father walk up to stand slightly behind Whizzer, but also next to him. It was very close. Too close. Probably. He had heard what his mother said about Whizzer probably being… being… he didn’t want to think about it too much.

“Do something with your arms, Jason.And don’t forget to smile!” Whizzer prompted.

“Yeah you look like you hate everything.” Marvin added, which earned a glare from Whizzer. Marvin returned the gaze with something more icy, and Whizzer backed off. That made Marvin smile. He had power over Whizzer, despite his arrogance.

“So do you,” Jason mumbled back. He put his hands in his pockets and smiled, he felt like he was forcing it.

Whizzer didn’t even bother getting a picture. He tried making conversation with Jason. “So, Jason, you’re in school right?”

Jason looked down at himself, then back up at Whizzer and deadpanned, “No. I graduated college two years ago.”

Whizzer laughed, and Jason smiled, proud of himself for seeming funny to an adult. He heard the camera click, and realized that he did what was expected of him: to smile. He didn’t want to be here. He wasn’t supposed to be complying with anything. He brushed it off and asked, “So, do you do… anything else? Like are you an interesting person?”

Whizzer laughed aloud again, certainly not expecting that question.

Marvin felt a flutter in his stomach each time Whizzer laughed, and pushed it away. 

“Well, I’d like to say I’m pretty interesting, what d’you think, Marvin?”

Marvin glared at him for just a moment. “I think you’re just swell… Whizzer.” he had to stop himself from saying ‘Pretty boy’ realizing that that’s the only way he had addressed Whizzer when they last… saw each other.

“Yeah, but what do you _do_ ?” Jason asked. He was getting frustrated. Whizzer was being vague, and he kept looking back at his father in that- that _way_ and he felt uneasy. What if his mother had guessed correctly. Was Whizzer really… flirting with his father? But an even more scary question popped into his mind after that: Was his father flirting back? He was pulled from his thoughts when Whizzer finally gave an answer.

“I play sports.”

“Which ones?” Jason asked, skeptical.

“Baseball, racquetball. Tennis, sometimes, but I’m not too good at it.”

“Mom wants me to play baseball. I don’t like it, though. I don’t want to play.”

“I mean it’s not too bad-”

Jason cut him off. “Dad takes me to see baseball games all the time, too. He says he doesn’t like to go alone or something, but then he doesn’t give me any attention when we get there. He’s always focused on the game.” Jason wondered if his father was really focusing on the players in the field instead of the actual game, but he pushed the thought down as Whizzer began talking again

“You’ll learn to like it, I promise. Just give it a shot.” he assured.

“Ugh you sound _just_ like my parents!”

Whizzer gasped in fake shock. “Are you calling me old and boring?”

That earned a laugh from Jason, and Whizzer snapped a few quick pictures, trying to capture the genuine smile at least a few more times. “No, I’m saying, everyone wants me to like things, but I already do. They just don’t like that I like them.”

“Like, like, like, like,” Marvin muttered to himself, mocking Jason. The two other boys looked over at him. Jason glaring, Whizzer, with a straight mouth but gleeful eyes.

“Well… what _do_ you like, Jason?”

Almost immediately, Jason responded with, “Chess. And thinking. Not about anything special. Just, I don’t know. Thinking. About life, about what I’m gonna do with a girlfriend. I don’t know what girls like. I just know that,” he sighed. “They don’t like me…” He stared at his shoes, and Whizzer couldn’t help but click the camera just once.

“Marvin, get him those boxes, from over there. You’re here you might as well be helpful.” Whizzer instructed before turning his attention back to Jason. He wasn’t exactly sure what to say now. He decided to change the topic. “You said you play chess?”

“Yeah,” Jason responded, moving the boxes around after Marvin went back to stand too close to Whizzer again. Jason felt sick. Not with disgust, but with fear. What would happen if he was right? 

“Who do you play with?”

“‘With whom do you play?’” Marvin interjected.

“Myself.” Jason responded. “I don’t know anyone else who knows how to play. I mean, my dad does, but he’s too competitive and gets really angry when I win.” Jason looked to his father, who was staring him down, giving him a don’t-say-another-bad-thing-about-me-or-we’re-going-home look.

Whizzer looked back at Marvin, who looked pissed. He found it rather… attractive. He liked seeing Marvin all mad. He needed somewhere. Some _one_ to take out all that anger on. He’d hate for Trina and Jason to get yelled at, though. Maybe he’d do them a ‘favor’.

“Anyways…” Jason trailed off, talking quite quickly about chess and how much he hated all his classmates cause they were dumb, or that he didn’t like homework cause he already knew everything. Once he started talking, he didn’t seem to stop. As he went on, Whizzer noticed that he certainly resembled his father with his high amount of arrogance and contempt for the world.

As the shoot continued, Whizzer and Jason kept chatting, and Whizzer had had all he needed by the end of the session. He was also glad that he had gotten Jason to open up a bit more and seem like a real person instead of just ‘Marvin’s son’

“Time’s up, kid.” he said, almost sad to let this little boy go home, where Whizzer was sure he’d just be pestered by his mother, who seemed sad and terrified of everything, or bothered by Marvin, who was just so micromanaging. Jason didn’t deserve that, but he wasn’t Whizzer’s kid, so Whizzer couldn’t care too much, he then turned to Marvin. “Hey, so I think I’m gonna need you to come back later today…” Marvin got the hint and walked next to him, once again standing way too close. 

Jason furrowed his brow, thinking way too much about what he had observed so far as he went back to the front desk, Marvin and Whizzer trailing behind.

“Why do I need to come back?” Marvin asked, playing along.

“There’s a bit of a pricing issue we need to discuss, it’ll take too long now. I have a shoot soon that should be over by the time you get back, and I just don’t wanna keep Jason waiting while we talk about all this boring adult crap, am I right?” he turned to Jason for the last bit, putting a fist out for Jason to bump. Which he did. He may lack some social skills but he wasn’t a moron. “So yeah. Take Jason home, tell Trina I say hi, and I’ll see you in a bit.”

Marvin nodded, turning to Jason. “Ready to go, kiddo?” he asked.

“Don’t call me kiddo.” Jason returned flatly. “Bye, Whizzer!” he said, tone brightening a little. He may have been worried about him and his father and whatever he hoped wasn’t happening between them, but he didn’t hate Whizzer. He seemed… cool. And cool people didn’t do things like that.

“Later, Jason,”

They exchanged a crisp high-five, and Marvin opened the door, getting impatient not at how long it had been taking to leave.

As soon as the door shut, he went to go take down the set and get ready for his final shoot of the day.

**Author's Note:**

> Part three! Here it is! I tried to make Jason more pessimistic in this since I always see people write him as more bubbly and shiny and was tired of it. I just interpret him to be more closed off when first meeting Whizzer... or anyone for that matter. He doesn't really seem like a social butterfly or anything. Anyways, I'll stop talking now. I hope you liked reading this!


End file.
